Southern California Edison Co. v. Public Utilities Commission

We issued a writ of review to consider the lawfulness of certain rulings by the Public Utilities Commission (Commission), adjusting the prices public utilities must pay to small privately owned electric generation facilities. (Pub. Utilities Code, § 1756.) We affirm that part of the ruling adopting a new methodology for determining the amount due, but we annul that part of the ruling that conflicts with federal regulations.

Procedural Background

In Cal.P.U.C. Decision No. 01-01-007 (Jan. 4, 2001) [2001 Cal.P.U.C. Lexis 66] (hereafter Decision) the Commission adjusted a component of the prices electric utilities are required to pay for purchases of electricity from certain electric generation facilities. In Cal.P.U.C. Decision No. 01-06-043 (2001) (hereafter Denial of Rehearing) the Commission denied the applications for rehearing. Caithness Energy (Caithness) filed its petition for writ of review in the Fourth Appellate District. The Supreme Court ordered the matter transferred to this court on the Fourth District’s request to be heard along with the petition filed by Southern California Edison Company (Edison). (Pub. Util. Code, § 1756.) We affirm the decision of the…